Dog Care and Obedience Training

Obedience Training

Training should begin when a puppy arrives in your home. A two- or three month pup can be taught the essentials; house-breaking; where it is to sleep each night; walking on lead. At about eight-ten months of age formal training should begin. The owner can train the dog himself, aided by training manuals or a professional trainer. Whatever training method is chosen, there are a few general and all-important rules to follow:

• The owner needs to be trained as well as the dog.
• Consistency and patience are absolute essentials in an owner.
• There is no need, ever, to shout at or physically punish a disobedient animal. Commands should be given in a firm but pleasant tone of voice.
• Commands should be simple and almost always in one word. Typical examles are: Sit! Stay! Come! Down!
• A command, once chosen, should never be changed. Thus, if the command for misbehavior is "No" it should never be changed to "Stop that" or "Bad Dog".
• Do not expect a dog to obey a command the fifth or fiftieth time it is given. If your patience is wearing thin, stop the training session and begin again the following day.
• Do not train a dog immediately after it has been fed.
• When the dog does something right, praise it lavishly.
• Each session should end with the dog in high spirits.

The tools needed are a collar, a leash at least 6 inches in length and a long clothes-line.

Complete list of books for dog care